Article Bioacoustics Reveal Species-Rich Avian Communities Exposed to Organophosphate Insecticides in Macadamia Orchards Eduardo Crisol-Martínez 1,2,3,*, Laura T. Moreno-Moyano 4 and Finbarr G. Horgan 2,3,5 1 Department of Agroecology, COEXPHAL (Association of Vegetable and Fruit Growers of Almeria), Carretera de Ronda 11, 04004 Almeria, Spain 2 EcoLaVerna Integral Restoration Ecology, Bridestown, Kildinan T56 CD39, Co. Cork, Ireland;
[email protected] 3 Escuela de Agronomía, Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias y Forestales, Universidad Católica del Maule, Casilla 7-D, Curico, Chile 4 School of Biosciences, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia;
[email protected] 5 Environment and Sustainable Resource Management, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland * Correspondence:
[email protected] Received: 7 November 2020; Accepted: 9 December 2020; Published: 14 December 2020 Simple Summary: Conventional commercial orchards often rely on chemical insecticides to control pests and diseases. Organophosphates are among the most widely used insecticides in agriculture. These insecticides are toxic to wildlife, and particularly to birds, which commonly forage for insects in orchards. In this study, we investigated the exposure of birds to a toxic organophosphate (trichlorfon) in Australian macadamia orchards. We used acoustic recorders to quantify bird activity and we used traps to measure insect abundance at six orchards, both before and after trichlorfon applications. Results indicated that the activity of all birds was similar before and after spraying and thus, the birds were exposed to the chemical. Furthermore, trichlorfon applications decreased the numbers of spiders at the orchards. We recorded a high diversity of bird species (62) in the orchards, and most of these birds (80%) were insectivores.